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Trench coat project part 5
The previous parts in my trench coat series can be found: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 And… I know I promised to show the coat the next time I posted. However, this post became too long and I split it in two parts. No worries, though, I will post them both at the same time and you can read them both! Hemming the coat I used the wonderful book of Roberta Carr, Couture – the art of fine sewing, to instruct me on how to make a good hem. To be honest, this is the most work I’ve ever done with hemming. At first bias strips about 6…
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The new Named clothing Stella shirt
This time I have sewn and tested the new Named clothing Stella shirt pattern. It is a relaxed fit kimono-sleeve raglan shirt with an unusual pointed collar. The narrow sleeve cuffs were folded up in an interesting way. The sizes range from EUR 32 to 50. I tried on the size 36 while visiting Named studio shop and based on that, went for one size bigger. The recommended fabrics are light-weight, drapey fabrics with no stretch. I took a risk, though, and used thicker, basically quilting weight cotton from my stash. It did work but I think a softer fabric would have been better. I also decided on a whim to…
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Named Quinn shirt
The Quinn shirt by Named collection was a pattern that I got for free with the new Stella raglan blouse pattern. The pattern was in Finnish but it is available also in English. It is a relaxed fit button-up with some interesting details. The button placket is shorter than the shirt and is rounded up at the bottom leaving an open vent. The collar is overlapping and the French cuffs are finished with cuff-links made of buttons. The sizes range from EUR 32 to 46 (US 0 to 14 / UK 4 to 18). My measurements came between the sizes 36 and 38. I measured some of my old blouses and…
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Successes and difficulties with silk – Fifi pyjamas and a blue camisole
Fifi I found this big silk blouse from a flea market and, since it costed only 3 €, I couldn’t resist buying it to see whether I could refashion it into something useful for me. I browsed through pattern sites and finally decided on Fifi pyjamas pattern by Tilly and the buttons. Fifi consists on a camisole and a pair of shorts and it has sizes ranging from UK 6 to 20 (EUR 34 to 48). I chose to make the size UK 10 which is my usual size and matched best my measurements. The blouse was a basic short sleeved button up and I started with unravelling all the…
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White Quilted Sweater for my daughter
Hi there! This time I want to show some pictures of my daughter with her new animal friends. She is is wearing her new quilted sweater I made using a pattern from Finnish magazine Suuri Käsityö (9/2016). I used the same fabric as I used before to make myself a sweater. The original pattern had bound neckline and gathered hem but I chose to make a simpler version and just turned the neckline and the hem and used my cover stitch machine to finish them. The sleeves have cuffs that have slits in them. My children’s second cousin has two dogs and a horse that just had a foal this year.…
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The trench coat project part 4: Gorgeous details and lining
The previous posts about this trench coat project: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Belt carriers, sleeve bands and the belt I had my belt and sleeve band buckles ready, so I adjusted the belt (I include now the sleeve bands with the word ‘belts’) widths to suit the buckles. I added some extra length to the sleeve bands since the original ones were meant to be buttoned up. With the belt, I decided to use the whole width of my gabardine and cut the belt on fold. I also made the belt end pointed. The belts and the sleeve bands needed to be interfaced. I interfaced the belts using…
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Trench coat project part 3: The Coat is taking shape
Finally the trench coat is taking shape! The previous posts in the series: Part 1 Part 2 top-stitching Most of the seams in my trench coat have top stitching. My Bernina has previously had trouble with top stitching thread, so I used two treads that I treaded through the machine like a single thread, except having two different spools. I still noticed that I needed a sharp Microtex needle and a well oiled machine to get a neat result. Pockets I mentioned the pockets last time but I never showed how they looked from the right side. I ditched the idea of the original pockets since they were too small…
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Tartan circle skirt and a bow top
My coat is coming along nicely, but while I am still busy with it, I’ll post some pics of the outfit I made last spring. I did not post it then since it suits better for the autumn. the circle skirt This skirt is a basic circle skirt I drafted myself. The fabric is tartan from Calico Laine. I really like this fabric. It is polyester-viscose mix which drapes wonderfully, doesn’t wrinkle badly and doesn’t seem to pill. Circle skirts always take a lot of fabric. I have usually cut the circle skirts horizontally in two parts. However, the width of the fabric then determines the length of the skirt…
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Trench coat project part 2: Off-graining and interfacing
The first part of the trench coat project can be found here. The next part of the trench coat project was to off-grain the coat fronts, cut the main parts of the coat and attach interfacings. Off-graining the coat fronts Some people were asking for me to explain the off-graining process, so here is a description of what I did. I must warn you that I am not a professional and I only write this down as I have understood it. I recommend using this description as an inspiration only and finding a book written by a professional to learn it properly. One excellent book for this is Couture the Art…
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Trench coat project part 1
Aquite a while ago I wrote about my plans of making a trench coat. At that time I had the basic materials ready but was still browsing through the internet to find the perfect pattern. I was annoyed to have found out that McCall’s 5525 trench coat pattern was sold out. However, guess what! I was super lucky to find the exact pattern on Ebay after weeks of searching! Now, I said that I hated making toiles. Well, for this coat I made an exception since the materials alone were expensive. I also really need this coat so I did not want to spend weeks making this coat and then…
